Oregon daily emerald., January 21, 1977, Page 9, Image 9

emerald
sports
S<aH photo
Oregon State coach Ralph Miller has been through a lot of close wins in
Corvallis Gill Coliseum
Stat* photo
but Oregon mentor Dick Harter would like it fine if the Ducks come
up with their fourth straight victory over the Beavers Saturday afternoon.
It’s do-or-die for OSU as Ducks pay visit
By JEFF NIELSON
Emerald Sports Editor
This may be a slow week lor
Paciftc-8 basketball officials in
Walnut Creek, Calif After all. the
lone scheduled conference game
is that rivalry in Corvallis
But to the two teams involved,
it's Civil War time again as Oregon
visits Oregon State for a 4 p m
battle that will be broadcast on the
regional NBC-TVS network for
those who can t get tickets to the
sellout
The Ducks are in a four-way tie
for first place with a 4-1 Pac-8 re
cord; the Beavers are alone in fifth
at 2-2. But the outcome of the
game will mean a lot more than
just numbers in the win-loss col
umn
OSU head coach Ralph Miller
knows that as well as anyone, for
his hot-and-cold Beavers stand to
drop out of title contention with
another loss
"Our most important game?
Certainly," said Miller in his Gill
Coliseum office following the
Beavers' Wednesday practice
"With two losses, you're still in the
race in this league With three,
maybe. There's more closeness
this year between teams than in
the last several seasons."
The biggest problem for Oregon
State has been playing with con
sistency With a nucleus of three
seniors, guards Rocky Smith (6-2)
and George Tucker (6-4) and for
ward Don Smith (6-7). the Beav
ducks wrap n. Mexico
Oregon’s men gymnasts in
creased their season undefeated
record to eight meets Thursday
night .n Albequerque, N.M., with a
211 85 to 208 55 victory over the
University of New Mexico.
Tonight the team will be in
Women face
SOC, AAU
Coming off a big win over
Oregon State, the Oregon
women's basketball team will try
to extend its winning streak this
weekend as the Ducks play a pair
of games. Saturday will find
Coach Elwin Heiny's club in Ash
land for a confrontation with
Southern Oregon College, then
the Ducks will come back Sunday
to friendly McArthur Court where
they will host Dr. Bernards, an
AAU team from Portland.
In each of the games, the Ducks
will be trying to regain the form
they exhibited in the second half of
Wednesday's come-from-behind
57-55 win over the Beavers at
Mac Court.
"The comeback shows that the
team is starting to piay as a team,"
she said. We ll be stronger as the
team plays more and more as a
team."
Tempe, Ariz., to take on the
Arizona State Sundevils. Last
year ASU was rated first in the
nation until Oregon upset it to gain
the top ranking.
For the first time this season,
the Ducks failed to win the all
around competition. Steve Ortiz of
New Mexico scored 53.10 points
to lead the all-around while
Oregon placed the next four in
Miki Moyal with 52.15, Breck
Grigas with 51.15, Gene Christ
ensen with 50.55 and Scott Phil
lips with 48.30.
Moyal was the individual winner
in the vault for the Ducks with a 9.3
score, Scott McEldowney won the
rings competition with a 9.4, and
Tom Truedson tied with a New
Mexico gymnast for first in the
pommel horse with 9.25.
Saturday night the team will
complete its three-night, three
meet away stand when it takes on
Brigham Young University in
Provo, Utah.
y/2
OVERNIGHT
NO MINIMUM
COPIES UNBOUND
KINKOS
1128 Alder 344-7894
Also in Corvallis
ers were supposed to come on
strong. But all three of their cen
ters are freshmen, and Miller said,
"they sometimes make mis
takes"
That doesn't mean, however,
that all is bad. The Beaver boss
has seen some good things from
Steve Johnson, the 6-10 rookie
who will most likely start Saturday.
“Johnson has had some good
games, some bad ones and some
that were middle-of-the-road,"
remarked Miller. "That's not very
unusual for a freshman ball
player.”
The Ducks will probably counter
with sophomore Kelvin Small,
whose jumping ability goes far
beyond his 6-8V2 height. Accord
ing to Oregon coach Dick Harter,
Small has been playing "with in
tensity" lately.
Providing the defense for
Oregon on Rocky Smith, who has
been leading OSU with a 18.9
per-game scoring average, and
guard Tucker will most likely be
Mike Drummond, who is leading
the league in field goal accuracy
(69 per cent) and sophomore Rob
Closs Greg Ballard and Ernie
Kent will start at forwards.
Oregon is also hoping that in
jured forward Joe Moreck will be
available for more playing time
this week.
But whatever the lineups, the
game promises to be intense. The
L
831 E. 13th 687-2823
E
U
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A
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Ducks won both Pac-8 meetings
last year, but it took a 10-foot
turn-around jumper by Ron Lee to
ice the victory in Corvallis, 57-56.
And although the bitter interstate
rivalry died down when the
Chancellor’s TroDhy (annually
awarded to the winner of the
OSU-Oregon year basketball
series), was dropped two years
ago, the outcome still means a lot
to alumni, students and many na
tive Oregonians.
Miller knows all about Harter's
motion.
“They’re operating a much
more deliberate offense than we
are," said the Beaver coach. “We
know what they’re going to do,
and I hope we just don’t start
bombing the basket unless we re
hitting."
The NBC-TVS broadcast can
be seen on Eugene's KVAL
(channel 13) or Portland's KGW
(channel 8). KUGN (590) will start
radio coverage at 3.45 p.m.
OTC hosting
run on Sunday
Runners and joggers will have a
choice of four distances at the
Oregon Track Club Fun Run on
Sunday at 1:30 at Alton Baker
Park.
Runs of 2, 4, 10 and 16 miles
will start simultaneously at the
park, next to the Ferry Street
Bridge. Each run will be com
pleted in the park where times will
be read aloud as each runner
finishes.
No entry fee will be charged,
and no prizes will be awarded. For
more information, call 344-0498.
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